A seatbelt system generally comprises a single piece of elongate webbing fixed at three points so that it passes across both the lap and diagonally across the torso a vehicle occupant. The seatbelt is fixed to the vehicle chassis on each side of the seat and is fixed to the side of the vehicle above the vehicle occupant's shoulder, usually to a load-bearing pillar of the vehicle known in the industry as the "B-pillar". To provide flexibility at the fixing point and allow the belt to adapt to different sizes and shapes of vehicle occupants, the webbing is fixed to the B-pillar by a pivotally mounted bracket known as a sill-end bracket. The sill end bracket is sometimes referred to as a D-ring because it has a shape reminiscent of a side oriented letter "D". The webbing passes through a slit-shaped hole in the sill-end bracket (D-ring) and over a generally horizontal bar formed by the vertical line of the "D". The sill-end bracket is mounted to the vehicle by a bolt that allows the bracket to pivot to set the webbing at the correct orientation for the vehicle occupant being restrained without twisting or pinching the webbing.
On the assembly line the webbing and sill-end bracket (D-ring) must be assembled together by passing the webbing through the hole in the bracket. Traditionally this is done manually and there is considerable waste due to operator error since the operation is difficult. It is desired to increase the speed and efficiency of the assembly line.